Tripping Up
by ThnksFrThMmrs87
Summary: He tripped her up constantly, and it was driving her nuts


Note from the Author-- Short and silly, though hopefully enjoyable

Disclaimer-- I do not own the characters of CSI:NY

She wasn't clumsy, damn it she wasn't. Yet the fact that she was flat on her back with papers scattered all around her and a pair of vividly blue eyes looking down at her in concern would suggest otherwise.

"You okay Stell? Flack asked.

She took the hand he offered and stood. "I'm fine. I just tripped."

He shot her a dubious look. "You?"

"Yeah I know weird for me. I'm sure there was just something on the ground." With a sigh she bent to gather her paperwork, thankful that he helped her gather them. "Thanks Don."

"No problem," he told her with a smile. "See you later."

Stella watched as he walked away, shaking her head and heading towards her office. As far as she was concerned it was entirely his fault. Ever since she'd realized she had more than just friendly feelings for the good detective a week before she'd been unsure of her steps for the first time in a long time. There hadn't been anything on the ground. She had seen him in front of her, gotten lost in thought, run into his back and fallen on her ass. It drove her nuts that she wasn't sure how to deal with him anymore, and she hated that she'd probably make an idiot out of herself again in the near future.

She had no idea exactly how right she was; the next incident occurred two days later. She was walking through the station after an interrogation, congratulating herself on a job well done. Suddenly all hell broke loose. A cuffed suspect broke away from the cop leading him toward an interrogation room and bolted. She didn't have enough time to get out of the way. The station was crowded today, with hardly enough room to breathe, and the suspect crashed into Stella as he tried to run by. She didn't even have time to swear as she went careening into the nearest desk chair.

It didn't take long for her to realize that there was someone in the chair, someone who was very clearly a man whom she had landed on. Praying to every god that she had ever heard of that it was somebody, anybody other than Flack, she opened her eyes.

"You okay Stell?"

No such luck. Thankfully she was able to suppress the blush that so desperately wanted to break out on her cheeks. "I'm fine, totally fine."

He grinned at her and she just about melted on the spot. "Haven't we had this conversation already?"

"Very recently." It was only then that it occurred to her that she was still perched on his lap and she scrambled off. " It seems I'm having issues staying on my feet lately," she told him with an embarrassed smile.

"I noticed."

Stella nodded. "Well, thanks for catching me."

"Anytime."

She made a break for it and headed back to the lab, feeling an intense need to maybe beat her head against a wall or something. There had to be something she could do to knock some sense into herself. How the hell was she supposed to function on the job if crap like this kept happening?

"I just need to start paying better attention," she muttered to herself. "That's it. Just pay more attention to what's going around."

For a few days it worked. She was hyper vigilant about everything, paying attention to her surroundings and where she was going. Three days after the incident at the station there hadn't been another, and Stella was hoping that it would become a trend. She should have known not to be too optimistic.

She and Lindsay were working with Hawkes on a case, and after an unfortunate morning of dumpster diving Stella had been absolutely filthy. Back at the lab she showered and changed, thankful for the change of clothes she kept in her locker. She was just pulling her hair up when her cell phone rang.

"Bonasera."

Lindsay's voice came over the line. "Hey Stella, Hawkes and I have been through everything and we can't find anything else. We're going to head back to the lab."

"Sounds good. Hopefully we'll be able to find something once we get everything back here."

She had only let her guard down for a second, after all she figured not much could happen when she was alone in the locker room. But she hadn't heard the door open and close, and before she knew it she had run head on into Flack, sending them crashing to the floor. They both froze, not sure what to do with themselves. Stella was painfully aware of how close he was as she straddled his waist and her hands pressed against his chest, holding her up.

"You keep landing on me like this and something very unprofessional is going to happen," he told her.

She opened her mouth to apologize, but before she could say anything she heard Lindsay's voice yelling on the phone. "Stella?"

"I'm here, sorry."

"Are you okay? What happened?"

She swallowed. "I'm in the locker room, I…" She looked down at Flack and fumbled a bit when she saw the predatory look in his eyes. "Fell."

"Stell." It came out almost as a growl and her heartbeat went wild. He pressed a hand against her back and surged to his feet, taking her with him as she squealed.

Her legs wrapped around his waist and her free hand clutched at his shoulder so she didn't fall on her head. Lindsay's concerned voice rang out again and Stella quickly reassured her. "I'm fine, I'm fine. Yes that was Flack." She gasped when said detective let her slide slowly to her feet then brought his mouth to her neck. "I promise we're both just fine." That clever mouth of his was working its way up her neck towards her mouth and she fought back a moan. "Listen kiddo I've got to go. Yeah, talk to you soon." She snapped the phone closed and let it drop to the floor. Their mouths met briefly and she pulled back. "She's going to know something's up."

Flack's eyes met hers and he grinned. "Do you care?"

The wicked smile she flashed sent his system into overdrive, a conditioned that only worsened when she opened her mouth. "Put your mouth on me again and I probably won't care about anything."

That was it, he was sure of it. He'd officially died and gone to heaven. "Happily."


End file.
